"Andrew Bailey is our closer, and yet we fully recognize that we have some work to do with him," Farrell said. "Right now, what has plagued him is that fastball has been up to his arm side, where left-handers have hurt him with the long ball. So getting him down in the strike zone consistently. And I think more than anything is just getting the breaking ball over in either the first pitch or fastball counts. But for the time being, he is definitely our closer."

Now Cabrera is on the disabled list with a hamstring strain, and understandably, owners are stashing him. We now have to live with the uncertainty over how long Cabrera will be out and how healthy he will be when he returns. What we can assess with more certainty is how well Cabrera is likely to perform should he be fully healed when he returns. He worked on his right-handed swing during the offseason, and this season Cabrera has hit .414 versus lefties, as opposed to .195 last season. Over his torrid last 28 games, Cabrera's overall batting average has surged as he has cut back dramatically on his strikeouts, though a .433 BABIP has inflated it somewhat.

It will remain to be seen whether Cabrera will be at 100 percent when he comes back and if he can sustain his recent improvements. Given how he spent his offseason and his minor league track record of good contact skills, Cabrera is a strong bet to be a top 10 shortstop from the point of his return on forward.

"When we looked at the previous days missed, what we felt comfortable with in terms of the throwing needed to get back to have him be able to go five, six, hopefully seven innings on Saturday, we felt like it was a little too short in total numbers of days, and when you factor in rest period, throwing sessions," Farrell said. "So we can retroactive his DL status and make him available on the 24th, which is Monday. We’re off, so that game we open up home against Colorado, he’s eligible to start that. That gives us the ability to do a little bit of a [simulated] game Friday or Saturday over in Detroit. And probably gets him in a better place physically to walk out and start a big-league game."

Pagan is scheduled for five innings in Thursday's game. It's unclear how long his rehab assignment will last, but Pagan should be able to return to the Giants within seven to 10 days assuming no setbacks.

"I want him to have a little bit more time in the outfield in general," Wedge said, per The Seattle Times. "Whether it be left field or center field. Either way for me I think it works good. The reps in center field would just be a concern right now. I want to make sure he can do that."

Franco, 20, dominated at high Class A Clearwater, where he hit .299/.349/.576 with 16 home runs in just 65 games. With the Phillies lacking an obvious long-term third baseman -- Michael Young is 36 years old and on an expiring contract -- Franco's stock will be worth watching closely as the Phillies look to fill the hot corner.

"We constantly look at things with guys with really good arms like Jake," Showalter said, per The Baltimore Sun. "If he gets the ball down, he’s effective. How do you do it? Is it delivery? Is it a mentality? We’ve talked about all those things and we will continue. Let him get there. I know he’s going to start his next outing and at some point we will probably step back and see where we are with it. I want to get him back on good ground."